Of the four Major Sports, which do you believe is the easiest to Manage or coach?

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 10:59

In football, basketball, baseball and hockey, which of the four majors is the toughest to coach or manage? Why do you think it's that way?

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 11:01

Basketball, easy. Fewest variables

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 11:02

What? With all the plays, defenses to counter, going big or small, saving guys and getting them minutes, changing lineups? I actually thought that might be the tougest

by **steveschneider** 2016-04-05, 11:03

Pro NBA ball. Jason Kidd at Brooklyn just sat on his ass and watched.

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 11:03

DWags wrote:What? With all the plays, defenses to counter, going big or small, saving guys and getting them minutes, changing lineups? I actually thought that might be the tougest

Do you know more about basketball than you do about the other sports? It sounds like you probably do.

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 11:05

I dont' know. I think I know the most about football. My first instict is baseball seems easiest, like a math guy could do it. (not that math is easy). Some baseball guy has to tell me why I'm wrong.

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 11:05

Steve, just because a guy sits on his ass, doesn't mean he's a good coach or it's easy to do. Look at JLS.

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 11:07

DWags wrote:I dont' know. I think I know the most about football. My first instict is baseball seems easiest, like a math guy could do it. (not that math is easy). Some baseball guy has to tell me why I'm wrong.

You definitely know the least about baseball.

It's not a bad thing, just standard bias that we all have. Personally I pick basketball because some Russian guy whose name I forgot skated to the nba finals. As did Eric spoelstra. I don't think coaching matters much in the NBA other than to make sure that the players aren't video taping each other talking about cheating on their fiances.

by **xsanguine** 2016-04-05, 11:12

Baseball is my favorite sport, just to reveal my bias. But I think it'd be the easiest to manage. Every sport has to deal with personnel changes... But baseball seems to be mainly just personnel changes and very little anything else. Sure, there's outfield/infield shifts... But all that kind of stuff is determined ahead of time by analytics and it isn't a situation where time is of the essence. Baseball benefits from no timed clocks or anything. So you look at your sheet... Oh, So and so is up, he's a lefty pull hitter... Well let's shift the outfield towards right field. The others seem more involved. You don't have to hurry up and get it done before the clock runs out. Determining what pitcher to put in seems like the most difficult decision a manager has to deal with. The others have plays and shit they have to draw up, sometimes on the fly (in the case of basketball).

by **Giant Moose** 2016-04-05, 11:15

xsanguine wrote:Baseball is my favorite sport, just to reveal my bias. But I think it'd be the easiest to manage. Every sport has to deal with personnel changes... But baseball seems to be mainly just personnel changes and very little anything else. Sure, there's outfield/infield shifts... But all that kind of stuff is determined ahead of time by analytics and it isn't a situation where time is of the essence. Baseball benefits from no timed clocks or anything. So you look at your sheet... Oh, So and so is up, he's a lefty pull hitter... Well let's shift the outfield towards right field. The others seem more involved. You don't have to hurry up and get it done before the clock runs out. Determining what pitcher to put in seems like the most difficult decision a manager has to deal with. The others have plays and shit they have to draw up, sometimes on the fly (in the case of basketball).

Yeah, but you have to deal with some of your players not speaking the same language as you. I don't think that happens regularly in any other major sport. A clubhouse in baseball can get out-of-hand pretty easily I would think, too, given you are with them 162 games with barely any breaks and traveling constantly.

by **SeeRockCity** 2016-04-05, 11:17

Baseball, easy.

Travis, you're over-thinking it.

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 11:18

SeeRockCity wrote:Baseball, easy.

Travis, you're over-thinking it.

I don't think I'm over thinking anything. Maybe I'm under thinking basketball. I just doesn't see what an NBA coach really does

by **steveschneider** 2016-04-05, 11:20

xsanguine wrote:Baseball is my favorite sport, just to reveal my bias. But I think it'd be the easiest to manage. Every sport has to deal with personnel changes... But baseball seems to be mainly just personnel changes and very little anything else. Sure, there's outfield/infield shifts... But all that kind of stuff is determined ahead of time by analytics and it isn't a situation where time is of the essence. Baseball benefits from no timed clocks or anything. So you look at your sheet... Oh, So and so is up, he's a lefty pull hitter... Well let's shift the outfield towards right field. The others seem more involved. You don't have to hurry up and get it done before the clock runs out. Determining what pitcher to put in seems like the most difficult decision a manager has to deal with. The others have plays and shit they have to draw up, sometimes on the fly (in the case of basketball).

Good answer.

I think some of the difficulties of the sport are being over looked.

I think there's a lot more pressure, and mistakes are scrutinized more in baseball. Baseball involves gambles/risk taking form the manager.

Also, I'm sure managing the egos in the clubhouse is a lot more difficult than people imagine. How do you approach your star pitcher and grab the ball from him when he's clearly gassed and wants to stay in the game?

by **xsanguine** 2016-04-05, 11:24

Giant Moose wrote:
xsanguine wrote:Baseball is my favorite sport, just to reveal my bias. But I think it'd be the easiest to manage. Every sport has to deal with personnel changes... But baseball seems to be mainly just personnel changes and very little anything else. Sure, there's outfield/infield shifts... But all that kind of stuff is determined ahead of time by analytics and it isn't a situation where time is of the essence. Baseball benefits from no timed clocks or anything. So you look at your sheet... Oh, So and so is up, he's a lefty pull hitter... Well let's shift the outfield towards right field. The others seem more involved. You don't have to hurry up and get it done before the clock runs out. Determining what pitcher to put in seems like the most difficult decision a manager has to deal with. The others have plays and shit they have to draw up, sometimes on the fly (in the case of basketball).
Yeah, but you have to deal with some of your players not speaking the same language as you. I don't think that happens regularly in any other major sport. A clubhouse in baseball can get out-of-hand pretty easily I would think, too, given you are with them 162 games with barely any breaks and traveling constantly.

Those sneaky Russians.

by **SeeRockCity** 2016-04-05, 11:25

Anyone not agreeing with me in this thread will be banned and maybe inactivated.

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 11:27

SeeRockCity wrote:Anyone not agreeing with me in this thread will be banned and maybe inactivated.

I heard that xsang was disagreeing with you.

by **Rocinante** 2016-04-05, 11:30

Baseball at a high level is actually pretty counter-intuitive at times. It's not about the best athlete, it's about the guy with the best skills for the situation. It's not like football where you can scheme all day and in the end you just need better athletes. I mean, shit, look at Beleicheck (or however you spell his polack name). He's supposed to be this master schemer, and in the end what does he usually do? Throw it to the giant frankenstein monster and watch him smash through people.

So fuck you SRC. I say football.

by **xsanguine** 2016-04-05, 11:45

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
SeeRockCity wrote:Anyone not agreeing with me in this thread will be banned and maybe inactivated.

I heard that xsang was disagreeing with you.

SNITCHES GET STITCHES FOR BEING PUNK BITCHES, TRAVIS!!!!

by **Other Teams Pursuing That** 2016-04-05, 11:46

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
SeeRockCity wrote:Baseball, easy.

Travis, you're over-thinking it.

I don't think I'm over thinking anything. Maybe I'm under thinking basketball. I just doesn't see what an NBA coach really does

You're wrong Travis. Think of the egos on a team

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 11:55

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
DWags wrote:I dont' know. I think I know the most about football. My first instict is baseball seems easiest, like a math guy could do it. (not that math is easy). Some baseball guy has to tell me why I'm wrong.

You definitely know the least about baseball.

It's not a bad thing, just standard bias that we all have. Personally I pick basketball because some Russian guy whose name I forgot skated to the nba finals. As did Eric spoelstra. I don't think coaching matters much in the NBA other than to make sure that the players aren't video taping each other talking about cheating on their fiances.

I guess I'd like to hear why you think baseball is harder.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2016-04-05, 12:05

Giant Moose wrote:
xsanguine wrote:Baseball is my favorite sport, just to reveal my bias. But I think it'd be the easiest to manage. Every sport has to deal with personnel changes... But baseball seems to be mainly just personnel changes and very little anything else. Sure, there's outfield/infield shifts... But all that kind of stuff is determined ahead of time by analytics and it isn't a situation where time is of the essence. Baseball benefits from no timed clocks or anything. So you look at your sheet... Oh, So and so is up, he's a lefty pull hitter... Well let's shift the outfield towards right field. The others seem more involved. You don't have to hurry up and get it done before the clock runs out. Determining what pitcher to put in seems like the most difficult decision a manager has to deal with. The others have plays and shit they have to draw up, sometimes on the fly (in the case of basketball).
Yeah, but you have to deal with some of your players not speaking the same language as you. I don't think that happens regularly in any other major sport. A clubhouse in baseball can get out-of-hand pretty easily I would think, too, given you are with them 162 games with barely any breaks and traveling constantly.

Dealing with a whopping two different languages is nothing. I know soccer isn't part of the discussion, as Dwags was implying the four major sports in the US, but in Europe it is not all that uncommon to have teams with native speakers of 5-6 different languages, even more sometimes. Just saying that having a mix of English and Spanish speakers on a team is not a huge deal.

As for the clubhouse getting out of hand, and everyone being together so much over so many games, that's true, but who gives a shit if players don't like each other in baseball? The amount of teamwork, cohesion, chemistry that is required is pretty minor compared to basketball, football, and hockey. The pitchers and catchers are the only ones that really need to be on the same page the same way players of other sports need to be.

by **SeeRockCity** 2016-04-05, 12:08

I guess, to contradict myself, Ted Turner thought managing a baseball team was pretty easy in the 70's but that didn't really work out very well. He's a pretty smart dude too.

by **xsanguine** 2016-04-05, 12:09

Fuck Ted Turner.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2016-04-05, 12:10

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
DWags wrote:I dont' know. I think I know the most about football. My first instict is baseball seems easiest, like a math guy could do it. (not that math is easy). Some baseball guy has to tell me why I'm wrong.

You definitely know the least about baseball.

It's not a bad thing, just standard bias that we all have. Personally I pick basketball because some Russian guy whose name I forgot skated to the nba finals. As did Eric spoelstra. I don't think coaching matters much in the NBA other than to make sure that the players aren't video taping each other talking about cheating on their fiances.

Basketball would be my second choice for the reasons you mentioned, but you're talking select examples. If you have a superstar team (like Spolestra did), they're going to do what they want regardless of what you say, so you minus well just throw them out there. So it can be easy if you have certain players on your team, but across the board in the NBA, some guys need to actually be able to coach.

by **Tim Wakefield** 2016-04-05, 12:16

I'd vote for AL baseball being the easiest. NL takes some strategy

by **Travis of the Cosmos** 2016-04-05, 12:18

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:
Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

I don't think I'm over thinking anything. Maybe I'm under thinking basketball. I just doesn't see what an NBA coach really does

You're wrong Travis. Think of the egos on a team

That exists in all of these sports though. These are millionaire idiots were talking about in most cases

by **Floyd Robertson** 2016-04-05, 12:18

Hockey. You put five guys on the ice, or you put four guys on the ice. If you have a power play, you put your best five offensive weapons on the ice. If you're short-handed, you put your best four defenders on the ice. If you're down by 1-2 goals in the last two minutes you pull your goalie.

by **steveschneider** 2016-04-05, 12:27

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13190448/why-managing-harder-ever

When Tony La Russa reels off the attributes for a successful manager, he cites the ability to teach, a grasp of baseball strategy, creativity, the guts to make tough decisions and the ability to represent the organization in a positive light as a public goodwill ambassador. But nothing drives success, in La Russa's estimation, more than the ability to navigate a clubhouse.

Old-fashioned as it sounds, managing baseball players remains very much a people business.

"You can have the greatest strategist in the history of baseball with a blah personality where players don't respond to them,'' La Russa said. "And you'll have another guy where players are like, 'Point me in this direction,' and they go flying. Even if they have to learn slowly, the team with the enthusiasm will beat you every time.

"In all professional sports, your No. 1 requirement is creating relationships. That way, the players will listen to you when you talk to them about playing as a team. Otherwise, all they're thinking about is themselves.

"In the old days it was all about the power of the position. You were the manager and you said, 'We're going to do this,' and the players said, 'Yes sir.' Now it's your responsibility to earn their respect and trust. Then you personalize it by showing that you care about them. It's really about back-to-basic values.''

by **xsanguine** 2016-04-05, 12:27

Floyd Robertson wrote:Hockey. You put five guys on the ice, or you put four guys on the ice. If you have a power play, you put your best five offensive weapons on the ice. If you're short-handed, you put your best four defenders on the ice. If you're down by 1-2 goals in the last two minutes you pull your goalie.

That seems complicated. Can you explain that again?

by **MiamiSpartan** 2016-04-05, 13:01

Floyd Robertson wrote:Hockey. You put five guys on the ice, or you put four guys on the ice. If you have a power play, you put your best five offensive weapons on the ice. If you're short-handed, you put your best four defenders on the ice. If you're down by 1-2 goals in the last two minutes you pull your goalie.

Sarcasm, I hope?

by **Floyd Robertson** 2016-04-05, 13:31

MiamiSpartan wrote:
Floyd Robertson wrote:Hockey. You put five guys on the ice, or you put four guys on the ice. If you have a power play, you put your best five offensive weapons on the ice. If you're short-handed, you put your best four defenders on the ice. If you're down by 1-2 goals in the last two minutes you pull your goalie.
Sarcasm, I hope?

In the game itself? No.

In practice, if you're trying to instill/reinforce the principles of the a system like the left wing lock, then there's more to it.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2016-04-05, 13:34

Baseball. Every other sport has motion on offense and defense. A lot more to prepare for.

by **Cym Jim** 2016-04-05, 13:36

Probably cricket.

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 13:39

I also think baseball. Name another sport where, when you have the ball, you're on fricking defense.

Hockey? Puck you're on offense
Football? Offense
Basketball? Offense
Baseball? Defense.

Fucked up.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2016-04-05, 14:42

Floyd Robertson wrote:
MiamiSpartan wrote:
Sarcasm, I hope?

In the game itself? No.

In practice, if you're trying to instill/reinforce the principles of the a system like the left wing lock, then there's more to it.

Ok, if you're not being sarcastic, it sounds like you're talking about a video game with line changes turned off. You don't just put your 5 best offensive players out on a power play or your 4 best defensive players out on a penalty kill.

If you want to say hockey is the easiest to coach, that's fine, we all have different opinions. I just think your reasoning, at least how you gave it in the earlier post, is way off base. Overall, I'd say hockey is similar to basketball in the sense that you can teach the guys what you want them to do, but then you leave it up to them to be creative and figure out things on the go during the game. However, I consider hockey more difficult than basketball due to the line changes. For full strength, you're typically talking 4 lines of forwards and 3 lines of defenders (plus different adjustments and combinations within those). No other major sport has 3rd and 4th stringers playing regularly in non-blowout situations.

by **Rocinante** 2016-04-05, 14:43

Jesus you guys are dumb. No wonder tRCMB rejected you.

by **MiamiSpartan** 2016-04-05, 14:43

Who the hell said football is the easiest? Must be The Dude or some other UM fan, that thinks it's all about sleepovers and khaki pants.

by **Rocinante** 2016-04-05, 14:44

MiamiSpartan wrote:Who the hell said football is the easiest? Must be The Dude or some other UM fan, that thinks it's all about sleepovers and khaki pants.

I did. Because I'm smarter than all of you.

Combined.

by **DWags** 2016-04-05, 14:49

football is a hell of a lot easier since I stopped coaching it. I know just what the team should have done, right after they did it. Haven't made a bad call in football in like ten years.

by **Watch Out Pylon!** 2016-04-05, 14:50

Rocinante wrote:
MiamiSpartan wrote:Who the hell said football is the easiest? Must be The Dude or some other UM fan, that thinks it's all about sleepovers and khaki pants.

I did. Because I'm smarter than all of you.

Combined.

Of the four Major Sports, which do you believe is the easiest to Manage or coach? Wehavereachedthatpointwereweshouldturnback_42eb55d62a4625694cb06f2844b92e1a

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Of the four major sports which one would be easiest to coach or manage?